Deputy fired, accused of witness tampering

A Palm Beach County sheriff's deputy charged with witness tampering lost his job Monday.

"His probationary period was terminated," sheriff's spokesman Sgt. Pete Palenzuela said. "He did not meet the standards of the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office."

Authorities originally placed Deputy Anthony Pilallis, 32, on administrative leave after he was charged criminally on Thursday with finding an alleged sexual battery victim at a bar west of Boca Raton on Oct. 27 and asking her about the case.

According to court documents released Monday, Pilallis told the woman he was interested in the case because he is a friend of the suspected rapist's father. The detective who investigated the 20-year-old woman's sexual battery case concluded that Pilallis tried to influence plea discussions in Robert Cucci's favor.

Pilallis was on duty, driving a sheriff's car and in full uniform when he walked into TW's Sports Bar shortly before midnight and showed the bartender a picture of the woman. Pilallis and the woman talked outside for a little more than a half-hour, when court records show he was no longer checking on a business -- the reason Pilallis told dispatchers he was at the bar.

The deputy knew the woman was under 21 and asked whether her roommate, another witness in the case, was at the bar with her.

The woman talked to Pilallis about the case because according to court documents, she "felt as though she would have been arrested if she didn't speak with him."

Pilallis kept asking about the incident and the charges filed against Cucci, 26, who lives west of Boca Raton.

Pilallis then asked the woman: "You know Rob's sitting in jail for three months. What do you want out of this?" Then court documents show Pilallis tells the woman all the places she visited that day.

"Defendant Pilallis used his position as a law enforcement officer to intimidate the victim," court documents show. "He also put the victim in fear by threatening to arrest her and by telling her he had been following her throughout the day."

Cucci's father on Monday denied knowing Pilallis or having ever talked to him about his son's case. Cucci remains in jail on a probation violation and has turned down plea deals because he is innocent of the charges, his father said.

Staff Researcher Barbara Hijek contributed to this report.

Chrystian Tejedor can be reached at ctejedor@sun-sentinel.com or 561-243-6645.